Not surprisingly, Republicans say it means a lot, while Democrats say it means nothing.

Here are three quick takeaways from Tuesday's recall election:

1. Snyder is safe. Organizers of a recall effort against GOP Gov. Rick Snyder already were facing a major uphill climb, needing roughly 807,000 valid signatures to make the ballot. But even if they collect enough signatures, Tuesday's results showed key independent voters supported Walker over his opponent, 53 percent to 45 percent.

Though the dynamics of each recall election are unique - in Michigan there is an up-or-down vote and a replacement election later on - voters here likely would not favor recalling Snyder.

In a February poll by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm, 36 percent of voters supported a recall and 55 percent were opposed.

Michigan Rising, the Super PAC behind the recall campaign, said last week it has 50,000 petitions in the field. But at 12 signatures per petition, the group would fall short even if all its petitions are signed.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, Walker drew nearly two-thirds of his overall $30.5 million contributions from out of state. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who did not enter the race until late March, got about 26 percent of his $4 million from outside Wisconsin, the group reported.

But Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said in a phone interview Wednesday that the financial advantage for Walker meant everything.

"The power of all that special interest money basically bought that election last night," he said, saying Walker and his allies outspent labor unions and other recall supporters up to eight to one.

"Spending not only affects or persuades people on who to vote for. But it also affects whether they vote at all," Brewer said, citing get-out-the-vote efforts. "In the end, that financial disparity was a major factor here."

3. Labor unions lost. Labor organizers are blaming the loss on being vastly outspent, but Wisconsin could spell trouble for their efforts in Michigan to change the state constitution to ensure every worker can collectively bargain.

By enshrining those rights, the Protect Our Jobs initiative would protect against Michigan becoming a right-to-work state and invalidate several union-related laws passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by Snyder.

Public workers in Michigan are motivated to strike back at a host of those laws and appear poised to turn in more than enough signatures to get on the ballot. But Wisconsin shows just how active the GOP and its allies could be in trying to defeat the law.

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak said Wednesday on WJR-Radio that voters support making public-sector employees pay more toward health care and other costs.

"The country, the taxpayers see that these reforms are necessary," Schostak said.

"And it should really give the governors confidence that they will get support, particularly in the Great Lakes region, the Rust Belt region, the heavy union-boss region of the country, where these organizations for many, many years ... have put forth enormous costs on the back of the taxpayers, on the back of different companies and organizations, and they're not sustainable. Governors now see that the country's speaking loud across the board."

Schostak did not mention Ohio, however. In that state last November, voters resoundingly overturned a GOP-backed law that restricted the bargaining rights of unionized teachers, police, firefighters and others.

There, opponents of the law outspent supporters by nearly four to one.